Interview with Taylor Lianne Chandler

Hello Taylor, for those who might not know you please let us know you are and please describe yourself?

I am 42, a former model and stunt woman. I have worked in business management and crisis management for the last 15 years. I went back to school in 2006 and did a two year interpreter training program. After my divorce in 2013 I moved to DC to pursue interpreting. I come from a privileged background and my father is a famous horse jockey, Leigh Fitch. My mother died when I was three months old in a car accident and my grandparents on my father’s side raised me. They didn’t allow me contact with my mother’s family till I was almost four because they didn’t approve of my mother or them and thought they were white trash.

You have become well known after it was revealed that you have a relationship with Michael Phelps. SInce then you have made a movie about that relationship. How did you come to the decision to actually make that movie considering that you had never done a porn movie before?

It was not an easy decision that is for sure. My publicist from the start, Lainie Speiser told me porn was not for me. She describes me as one of the Real Housewives with my designer clothes, jewelry and expensive handbags. I didn’t have a lot of options. After Michael got the DUI and my name was made public. work for me as an interpreter quickly disappeared. You need to be invisible as an interpreter and facilitate communication. I was far from invisible at this point. The offers we were getting were men’s magazines and porn. When Vivid called, Lainie said it was worth it to see what I was worth. I come from a family of Republicans, deeply rooted in politics and conservative. Women got educated to marry well not have a career. I think I wanted validation. I wanted to show the world what drew Michael 12 years my junior to me.

What was it like shooting the movie? What, if any, preconceived notions about porn movies was broken when you actually made this movie?

I really had nothing to compare it to. I grew up thinking porn was dirty. My grandfather built a porn room in our summer home in Maine, complete with a projector and 100’s of films. The name Swedish Erotica comes to mind. After meeting with the Hirsch’s they made me feel very comfortable and that my boundaries would be respected. I think people will be surprised by my film. It has an interview about my life with Michael, it reenacts our sex life almost to the T. We didn’t have sex during halftime of the Raven’s/Brown game, but because of all the media coverage saying that we played it up a little tongue in cheek. Right down to him texting Ray Rice and Ray Lewis during the whole game.

On top of doing the movie you also wrote a book. How long did it take to put that together and why did you decide to do a book as well as a movie?

This is one of two books that are part of my deal. This is like a novella that takes you from my divorce, working on the Hill, to meeting Michael and then our time together and making of the film. The second book will be my whole life and people will see what I have said all along, that my time with Michael, short of my life being outed, what one of the most normal times in it. My second book will knock peoples socks off. Thanks to Riverdale Avenue Books and them putting me in touch with Lissa Trevor the book happened seamlessly and quickly. Shocking all of us, including Lori Perkins the owner.

You are being labeled as the first intersex porn star. For those that don’t know what that means, please explain it?

I think that is kind of funny. I had no control over that. That was Vivid’s idea. As far as I am concerned I was born intersex, but as soon as I had corrective surgery I was just like any other woman. I have seen some of the negative comments. People were expecting to see a chick with both a pussy and a dick and seemed disappointed. Intersex in its simplest of terms means you are born some version of both male and female sexes whether visible or hidden. For me it means ambiguous genitalia, no testes and a uterus, but no ovaries. Intersex replaced the tern hermaphrodite since it is based on Greek mythology and a mammal can’t technically be that, only worms can. Intersex is an umbrella term that includes many variations under it.

I know you are also an activist/public speaker on the subject of intersexuality. What has that been like and how open are you finding people who are first learning about this?

I have always been passionate about anything I believed in. It started with deaf advocacy working as an interpreter. I never dreamed I would be talking about this. People are fascinated and it goes back to the old adage, now you know and knowing is half the battle. Statistics are wrong because a lot of intersex people don’t disclose it. They believe the numbers are as low as 1 in 1000, that means we out number red heads if that puts it in better perspective. Younger people that don’t have the hate and prejudice of their parents accept this much easier. Science is hard for a lot of people to understand. Intersex is often confused with transgender. That is a psychological diagnosis in the DSM when intersex is a physical condition in the ICD. The life, ridicule and transitions is miss gendered can be very similar.

What sort of things do you like to do when you aren’t working? Any hobbies?

I love the calmness of the water, I truly have an affinity to it. I love roller skating and anything kid like. Video games and movies and reading. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo“ is my favorite, the Swedish version. Country Strong is one of my favorite movies. I love exercise and eating right. Spending time with friends and a great bottle of wine. A night of Cards Against Humanity is superb.

Are there any projects or special events coming up that you would like to promote, if so please do so?

I will be traveling promoting the film and book. I will be starting on the second book. We hope to sell the option to the second book for a made for TV movie and I would love Nicolette Sheridan to play me as an adult and for me younger I would like to give a chance to intersex or transgender actors. I hope to be able to travel the college circuit and tell my story as I think it is truly beneficial. I am interested in branching off into TV. I think I would make an explosive edition to the Real Housewives brand. Like I have done my whole life I plan to do everything I want to do.